


Friends in Rich Places

by wannnabesuper



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Banter, Casual Sex, F/M, Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, Light Pining, M/M, Peter is also there, lily & remus friendship, lots of sugar daddy jokes, mentions of child abuse, no actual sugar daddy dynamic, oblivious Remus, remus is so far in denial he's in egypt, unless you count sirius's refusal to stop buying remus coffee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 08:52:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13120341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wannnabesuper/pseuds/wannnabesuper
Summary: Scholarship student Remus Lupin is working too many jobs just to get by. But when ultra rich Sirius Black takes an interest in him at a party, are things about to change? Of course they are; now Remus is working too many jobs and, when he has a bit of spare time, shagging a millionaire.





	Friends in Rich Places

**Author's Note:**

> This just sort of wandered into my brain, inspired by a hybrid of the way Logan takes Rory on zany adventures in Gilmore Girls and the way I want to be swept off my feet by a charming and handsome rich man. Mostly written in a state of general sleep deprivation and not overly proofread, so. Errors. Please enjoy anyway!

Remus had always viewed his ultra-rich classmates with a kind of detached but mildly horrified fascination, much the way someone who didn’t like children would watch a class of kindergarteners fall down a flight of stairs. As a scholarship student at arguably the most prestigious university in the country, he was never short on ultra-rich classmates to observe. They often seemed omnipresent, propping shoes more expensive than Remus’s mom’s car on their desks to recount their weekend exploits partying away enough to pay half a year’s rent on Remus’s sketchy flat.

One of his (many) part time jobs offered more than usual opportunities for ultra-rich people watching, as Remus frequently spent weekend nights bartending private parties. There was a core group who were almost always there, tipping extravagantly and making it well worth Remus’s time to put up with their thoughtless comments about his hair (“dude, do you even use product? My stepmom’s dog has better hair”) or his clothes (“why do you even bother with a button up if you’re not going to get it tailored?”) or the well-earned bags under his eyes (“bro, don’t go so hard if you can’t keep up”). Still, it wasn’t uncommon to earn a couple hundred pounds tax free, and there were generally a few attractive faces to keep things visually interesting. And, as he often told his flat mate/best friend/fellow scholarship student, it was better than cleaning toilets. Which he did three days a week in the academic buildings.

Remus knew he was nondescript enough to blend into the background at these parties; people tended to say drinks in his general direction, grab them without looking, and sometimes stuff bills into the tip jar if they liked their drink enough. It was rare that he was actually spoken to, so it took him a moment to realize that easily the most attractive man in the room was addressing him directly.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know that drink,” he said, already making the man a sex on the beach. He didn’t know the man’s name, but he had become accustomed to his habit of ordering the drinks with the dirtiest names, always with a wink. Disbelief fluttered across the aristocratic features facing him, quickly replaced by amusement.

“I asked when you’re off,” the man repeated, a little slowly, like he thought Remus was daft. Which, to be fair, he’d just done a good impression of.

“So, nothing besides the sex on the beach then?” Remus was clinging to his well-known script, thoroughly off balance by this unprecedented attention.

“If you don’t want to tell me when you get off, then yeah, just the drink.” The other man tossed his shoulder-length black hair with a wry smile.

“Bar service will continue until two?”

“Right, that’s all I wanted to know. Cheers, Lupin.” The man walked away, leaving Remus wondering if they knew each other. How else would the stranger have known his name?

* * *

“Describe him,” Lily demanded the next day, far more awake than her flat mate. Then again, her night shift had ended at eleven, meaning she’d been fast asleep when Remus got in. Unfortunately, she was brutal at keeping Remus on the homework schedule they had designed at the start of the semester, meaning he was awake at 8 a.m. on a Sunday sadly inhaling his instant coffee in a dual attempt to convince himself to perk up, and that the coffee wasn’t terrible.

“Long black hair, pretty, I think Asian? Shorter than me, looks like he goes to the gym but not obnoxiously, you know?”

“Rem, shorter than you is like everyone on campus,” Lily huffed. Remus, at 6’3”, was exactly a foot taller than her, and she tended to act like his height was an unreasonable personal affront. “He can’t be in a class with you right now; it’s nearly halfway through the semester and you’d have mentioned someone _pretty_.”

“Yeah, I said it,” he grumbled. Lily liked to occasionally pester him about dating, though they were both so over-scheduled that at this point it was genuinely a choice between dating or sleeping. Just to be obnoxious, the previous year Remus had gotten his bed a valentine.

“Pretty and rich,” she sighed. “What a life.”

“Such a shame we only have half of that.”

“At least we can always leverage our looks to marry rich.”

“Yeah, who needs a fancy uni degree when we can just be trophy spouses?”

“Our husbands will buy us the fanciest frames for our fancy degrees. They will be dusted with dusters made from the feathers of the finest endangered birds.”

“Careful, we’ll talk ourselves into getting on that sugar daddy dating website again.” Lily shuddered at the memory. They had made her a profile once, in the sleep deprived haze after finals, and the messages that had immediately started coming in were enough to make her blush over a year later.

“Anyway, back to your rich pretty boy,” she demurred. 

“Can’t we just do homework? I’ll quiz you for your neurochem test…”

“Not quite. Homework doesn’t start until 8:30. Which means I have… seven more minutes for cornflakes and Facebook stalking!”

Fortunately for Remus, the Wifi in their flat was slow enough that Lily had only gotten to the student directory by the time they had to start working. Unfortunately, she had the foresight to leave the page up so she could return to it immediately as soon as they broke for lunch.

“I wish this thing had more useful filters,” she grumbled as Remus started heating the kettle (full of water for tea and two Pot Noodles).

“What does it have?” Now that Lily was invested, experience told Remus to just go with it.

“Graduating year, major, alma mater, and extracurriculars. How am I supposed to use this to find your pretty, probably Asian boy with long black hair?”

“Well it is the school’s website. So I would be a bit concerned if you could filter it like a dating site.”

“What do you know about dating si- OMIGOSH I FOUND HIM.”

“You never did.”

“Come see!” Lily spun the laptop and Remus was forced to admit that she had, in fact, found who she had been calling his ‘mystery man.’ His hair was shorter and more closely styled in the photo, and his smile was clearly forced, but it was definitely the same guy.

“Sirius Black. Huh.” Remus couldn’t decide if the name sounded familiar. The last name was common enough, but Sirius seemed like something that would’ve stuck in his brain. As did Sirius’s bone structure.

“So do you know him? It says he’s a premed major, but maybe you had a general course together? He’s on the rugby team, maybe that’s it?”

“Lily I genuinely just now learned that we have a rugby team.”

“I know that's a lie but I get your point, it's not that. You must have just seen him at parties?”

“He did look familiar, but no one talks to the bartender. The only one I ever talk to is Peter Pettigrew, because he’s the one who always hires me.”

“Oh, Pettigrew must know your name. Black could’ve asked.”

“I doubt he’d’ve gone through the trouble.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“You think?”

“Bet he’ll talk to you at the next party.”

“He can do whatever he likes, as long as he tips for his drinks.”

“WhatEVER? You really do think he’s pretty.”

“Shut your face and study, Evans.”

* * *

It wasn’t until Thursday that Remus finally figured out how Black might have learned his name, since asking Pettigrew seemed like a bit much effort. Tuesdays and Thursdays Remus picked up hours tutoring in the writing lab, and one of his most frequent students was James Potter, school rugby star and one of the more tolerable ultra-rich. By that Remus meant he had never offered to pay Remus to write his papers for him, and he usually brought food to share. Potter was still unfortunately out of touch, frequently saying careless things that would seriously offend Remus if he thought for a second that his student meant them.

They were just finishing up their Thursday session (at least, Remus was finishing up; Potter had easily six hours of work to go on the paper but it was at least no longer absolutely abysmal) when Remus noticed Black hovering at the door of the tutoring center. He put his notebook back into his tattered backpack and was standing up when Black suddenly made a beeline for their table.

“James, Remus! Fancy meeting you here!” he greeted, too loud and too cheerful.

“People are working, do please keep your voice down,” Remus scolded without thinking. Black’s cheeks pinked slightly.

“Fancy meeting you here indeed, Siri,” Potter said at a much more acceptable volume. “Especially since you haven’t needed supplemental help since you finally figured out how to conjugate French verbs.” Black’s face went even pinker, and Potter turned to Remus conspiratorially. “He was almost twelve before he got the hang of the past subjunctive.”

Remus just blinked at him, unsure how he was supposed to respond to this. At his state school there had been plenty of twelve-year-olds struggling with English, let alone a foreign language.

“Don’t be a tosser, Potter, you’re literally in remedial lessons right now,” Black growled, and Remus refused to enjoy the pleasantly deep voice.

“I’m sure you speak French just fine now,” Remus offered, for lack of anything better to say. “James, thanks for the sandwich, but I’ve got to run. Remember to stick to your argument and not get distracted; Marlene will help you if you need anything else today.”

“Are you on your way to class?” Black asked, perking up like a puppy invited for walkies. “I’ll go too.”

“You literally just got here?” The pair left Potter’s confused protest in their wake, Black easily keeping up with Remus’s habitual long strides.

“So what class do you have next?" he asked. "You’re studying to be a teacher, right?”

“I am,” Remus admitted. “How do you know that?”

“Oh, James must have mentioned. Your tutoring has saved his GPA, we all know it.”

“I’m sure he appreciates it,” Remus said drily. Potter had never recognized him at any of the many parties Remus had bartended, despite ordering drinks from him more than once.

“He’s raved about you, mate” Black said earnestly.

“Well I’m always glad to hear good reviews,” Remus demurred. “This is my building.”

“Hey, before you go, there’s a party tomorrow night,” Black blurted out.

“Yeah, it’s on my schedule,” Remus replied absently. “I thought I confirmed with Pettigrew, but you can tell him I’m good to bartend.”

“I… yeah, okay, I’ll tell him.” Remus was too busy getting his thoughts in line for class to notice Black’s less than enthusiastic response.

* * *

Friday night was dragging. The party seemed to have some kind of theme, but between the neon togas, caution tape, and peppermint themed specialty drinks, Remus had no idea what it was. Probably something like “I’ve never eaten a meal that cost less than someone on minimum wage makes in a day.”

“Remus!” A clearly already intoxicated James Potter leaned against the counter serving as the bar. The rugby player was wearing a neon blue sheet that had clearly been tied as a toga but was now exposing an unfair amount of toned brown chest.

“James.”

“Siri told me you bartend but I didn’t believe him!” Potter was looking at Remus suspiciously, as though this was all an elaborate prank.

“You’ve gotten drinks from me at several parties.” One a.m. was secretly Remus’s favorite part of the party, because the guests generally hit the sweet spot of drunkenness that meant they wouldn’t catch his tone but hadn’t yet gotten overly emotional. It was a good chance to let off a bit of steam without worrying about impacting his tips.

“Siri told me that too,” Potter said mournfully. “I guess I should get new glasses after all.”

“I did think it was odd that you wore glasses to parties when you never seem to have them at tutoring,” Remus commented, since apparently they were having a conversation now.

“I have one-day contacts and I can’t be trusted to take them out when I’m drunk,” Potter confessed. “Siri and Pete can’t do it either. A&E said we shouldn’t try again.”

“It’s a wonder you’re not blinded.”

“That’s what the doctor said! Remus, you should be a doctor.”

“If only med school wasn’t so expensive.”

“Bloody dull, too.” This last comment came from a grinning Sirius Black, who had somehow managed to approach unnoticed despite his bright pink toga tied together with police tape. Remus startled a little, making Black smirk.

“Sorry, your outfit was so loud I couldn’t imagine someone so small arriving in it,” Remus snarked, and Black looked delighted. He also, Remus was disgruntled to notice, looked astonishingly attractive in his toga. Despite the half-naked rugby player in front of him, Remus found himself much more tantalized by Black’s bare arm and shoulder. He had exceptional collarbones. He was also glittery, sparkles falling from his hair as he laughed with his whole body.

“Wow, I’ve never seen you laugh at someone insulting your height,” Potter said, with the flushed contentment of someone feeling no pain.

“Shove it, Jamie, even with your hair you’re shorter than Remus.” Potter attempted to flatten his wild hair to ascertain the truth of this, but was completely unequal to the task.

“He’s probably right,” Remus finally pointed out. “Since your eyes are only about level with my nose.”

“Ah, well, at least I’m taller than Siri,” Potter said, slinging an arm around Black’s shoulders. Black wasn’t actually too much shorter than the others, but next to Potter’s wild hair and athletic torso he seemed almost delicate. Remus mentally banned himself from thinking about Black’s body for the rest of the night.

“The higher you are, the harder you fall,” Black said, deftly saving Potter’s drink with one hand and using the other to execute a move that left Potter blinking on the floor.

“Oh, good, we’re at jujitsu drunk already,” grumbled a new arrival. “Hey Looper, get me another one of those minty things, yeah?” Harsher campus gossip referred to Peter Pettigrew as the kind of new money trust fund kid who was going to get married to a woman way too hot for him who would later take him for everything in the divorce. Remus tried to give the chubby boy the benefit of the doubt but it was hard to hide his irritation at the way Pettigrew had either nicknamed him or just straight up didn’t know his name. Still, he mixed the requested drink.

“Remus,” Black said, leaning over the bar with sudden intensity. Lupin raised an eyebrow, impressed at the amount of alcohol he could smell on the other man’s breath. He wasn’t swaying at all and had just managed a jujitsu takedown, but Remus would be nervous to have him breathe near open flames. He didn’t find out what Black was going to say, though, because Potter chose that moment to attempt to regain his feet.

Using Black’s toga as a handhold.

The police tape snapped, the sheet (and Potter) fell to the ground, and Remus was faced with the sparkly spectacle that was Sirius Black in nothing but sinfully tight boxer briefs. So much for not thinking about his body anymore.

“Well this is a bit more direct than I usually go,” Black said, waggling his eyebrows and leaning even closer across the bar. “You should stay after hours tonight.”

“If you want the bar to stay open late, it’ll be extra.”

“Don’t be dense, Remus!” Potter shouted from the floor. He had managed to drag Pettigrew down with him and the two appeared to be rather stuck in Black’s discarded former toga. “He wants you to come to the afterparty to party!” Black may have been blushing, or just flushed with the alcohol, but at that moment several people came by for drinks and allowed Remus to get his thought in order without being stared down by an impressive set of abs.

When he returned, Black looked a bit uncertain but Potter (finally standing) looked excited. Pettigrew looked less than thrilled, though that could’ve been more to do with the fact that he had been wrapped rather messily in Black’s neon pink toga, and the shade agreed with him far less than it had Black.

“So whaddya say?” Potter asked, causing Black to shove at his face.

“Come to the after party with me Remus.” From Black, it wasn’t a question. Remus should say no just to teach him not to be so arrogant.

“Where’s the afterparty?”

“There’s a trampoline park about an hour away. It’s got those pits of foam cubes too.”

“So you want me to drive, because none of you are sober.” Remus couldn’t for the life of him figure out the angle of this invitation.

“Don’t be ridiculous, we’ve got a car.”

“I’m not about to blow all of tonight’s tips on a couple hours of fun.”

“Everything’s paid for, you don’t have to buy anything.”

“Nothing’s free, Black, you can at least be up front with me.” Remus was getting a bit tired of Black’s flirtatious gaze. Why would a bloke who looked like him be so interested in a gangly, pale scholarship student?

“You want me to tell you what I want?” Black suddenly rounded the bar, putting an awful lot of his skin very close to Remus’s personal space. His eyes were so challenging Remus couldn’t do anything but nod. “I want to see you have some fun. I want to see you unbutton at least that top button and live a little. I want to hear more of your sarcastic remarks while we do stupid shit. I want you to call me Sirius.”

“Well if that’s all,” Remus almost growled, leaning close enough to whisper in Black’s ear, delighting in the way Black shivered at the near contact. “It’s not healthy to get everything you want, Black.”

“Oh, you’ve got to come now,” Black retorted, leaning ever so slightly closer.

“And why’s that?”

“Because now I know you’ll be fun to have around.”

“I reckon he’s right,” Potter chimed in, startling Remus into remembering that he and Black had an audience. “If you’re fun while you’re working, you’re probably a right riot once you cut loose.”

“You’re assuming I ever cut loose,” Remus said coldly, stepping back to put some space between himself and Sirius.

“Well now you’ve really got to come.” Pettigrew made it sound like a foregone conclusion. “Live while you’re young, and all that.”

“Do you have anything to do tomorrow?” Black asked, surprisingly conscientious.

“Yeah, I –“ but Remus stopped, remembering that the adult day classes where he usually volunteered on Saturdays were cancelled this weekend, since the teachers were attending a conference.

“Is that a no?” Potter asked hopefully.

“It seems like it might be,” Pettigrew said helpfully, shoving the other two back towards the party with surprising force. “Go find the rest of the crew.”

“I should be shutting down the bar,” Remus said, hoping to end the ridiculous train of thought that had him going out with the ultra-rich.

“Yeah, it’s about that time,” Pettigrew agreed. “And if you ever want to work one of our parties again, I’d advise coming out tonight.” Remus stared at the smaller man in shock. “I don’t get it, to be honest, but James and Sirius have decided they like you. And I’m happy when my mates are happy. So come with us, or I won't hire you again.”

“You’re blackmailing me” Remus said faintly.

“Let’s not use such ugly words,” Pettigrew scoffed. “I’m incentivizing you. Not that I get why you need more incentive than a fun, free night out.”

“I have to go by my flat first. I’m not going out with all my tip money.”

“We’ll drive by. Maybe you can change your shirt, too. We’ll help you pick something out.”

Horrified by the thought of this crowd descending on his flat – while Lily was sleeping, no less – he backtracked quickly.

“Just let me go by an ATM and I’ll deposit it.”

“Good lad!” Pettigrew clapped him on the shoulder jovially. He seemed to think he was genuinely doing everyone a favor, and Remus was a touch nauseated by his completely misguided conscience. Still, less than an hour later he was finishing up depositing the night’s tips in the ATM down the street when a limo pulled up behind him.

“Why are we stopping?” asked a voice that sounded like an incredibly morose Sirius Black. The door opened and Remus found himself on the receiving end of eight curious stares – and one smug one, courtesy of Pettigrew.

“Get in, then,” the blond advised, and Remus found himself pulled into the car amid much whooping.

“Who’s this?” someone asked, and another voice chimed in with “wait, is that the bartender? Why is he here?”

“Everyone, this is Remus Lupin,” Potter announced proudly. “Remus, this is everyone. You’ll love them. They’re great.”

“Shut up and drink some water, Jamie,” Black interrupted, wriggling so that he was sat next to Remus and throwing an arm around the startled man’s shoulders. “That’s Alice, Frank, Gideon, Fabian, Mary, and Dorcas. You already know me, Jamie, and Pete. I can’t believe you’re here!”

“I’m just as surprised,” Remus muttered, and one of the women (he thought it was Alice) looked at him suspiciously.

“Are you sober?” she asked, almost accusingly.

“Well I did just get off work.”

“Do you want or need to stay sober?” This question was phrased much more politely, and Remus was touched by the thoughtfulness of it even as he shook his head.

“Great!” (probably) Fabian exclaimed, shoving a bottle into Remus’s hand. “Catch up!”

“What is this?” Remus asked, sniffing the bottle. It smelled good, like raspberries and oranges and just a hint of alcohol. Years of bartending had taught him that the ones that didn’t smell like alcohol were often the most dangerous.

“It’s a French Kiss,” Sirius murmured in his ear. His tone could not possibly be taken for anything but flirtatious.

“Well. Live while I’m young, I suppose,” Lupin muttered, shooting a dark glance at Pettigrew. He drank half the bottle in one go, earning several cheers from the rest of the car.

He didn’t entirely trust these people – he didn’t even know most of them – he hadn’t been given an address he could text Lily in case anything went wrong, he didn’t have enough money in his account to pay bail if things went south, and there was a good chance he was currently making the worst decision of his adult life. Still, he’d been responsibly looking out for himself nonstop since he was sixteen. Maybe it was time for a break. Ignoring all the voices in his head saying this was a bad idea, he took another heavy pull from the bottle and grinned at the car.

“This isn’t bad, but won’t get me caught up. Have any shots?”

* * *

The rest of the night, despite having so much potential for disaster, was the most fun Remus had had in he didn’t even know how long. By the time they got to the trampoline park his top two buttons were undone (Sirius undid the top one, but Remus undid the second one on his own), he had discovered that he and Dorcas both spoke Welsh (it took them a couple minutes to realize that Gideon was ‘translating’ their conversation, despite not speaking Welsh; he was informing the car that the two were actually long-separated siblings having a surprisingly unemotional reunion), and he had made James spit water out his nose with a well-timed remark.

The park was closed except for them, and Remus was concerned about the lack of safety personnel. Mary assured him there was a paramedic nearby because James was surprisingly perspicacious about these things, but they were free to bound around unsupervised. Remus surprised everyone (including himself) by letting Sirius goad him into a backflip competition, which James won and Fabian lost hilariously, falling on his face after the first attempted flip. Remus managed seven before his sock slipped, leading to general hilarity by the rest of the crew. Most of them were still in various stages of neon toga, though James had fully abandoned his to run around in just his underarmor running shorts. Remus did not object to the view, though he was less vocally appreciative than Mary and Alice. Remus consented to take off his socks but wasn’t ready to show off his incredibly pale and unfortunately scarred skin to his new friends.

These inhibitions had mostly fled as 6 a.m. drew closer. Pettigrew was sleeping in one of the foam pits and Mary was dozing under three abandoned togas. Frank and Alice had disappeared together, and Marlene was goading James, Gideon, and Fabian (now all down to their skivvies) into increasingly ridiculous stunts. Remus had been absently toying with Sirius’s hair, by now completely at peace with the other man’s apparent need to be touching someone at all times. They were idly calling out suggestions to Marlene and providing sarcastic commentary for the stunts when Sirius sat up suddenly.

“Let’s go to the roof,” he said, voice conspiratorially low.

“What’s on the roof?” Remus asked, already getting up.

“The sunrise. And a surprise.” Sirius snagged a by now mostly empty bottle of something-or-other in one hand and Remus’s hand in the other. Remus allowed himself to be towed along, enjoying the view of Sirius’s back, which had been bare since the party.

The sunrise hadn’t arrived yet, but the surprise turned out to be a jacuzzi, which Sirius uncovered and turned on with minimal fumbling.

“Nice, hmm?” he asked, leaning invitingly on the edge of the tub.

“I bet it’d be nicer if I had something to wear in it. I’m not going all the way home in wet trousers, Sirius.” The other man’s grin turned wicked and he motioned for Remus to turn around. Half expecting a swimsuit to be waiting for him, Remus looked around the roof in confusion until he heard a small splash.

“You can turn back around,” Sirius announced. He was lounging in the jacuzzi, obscured from the chest down by bubbles. Remus gulped when he saw the shorts Sirius had been wearing in a pile next to the tub.

“Right.” Remus said, more to avoid saying something else than because it needed saying.

“I promise I’ll close my eyes,” Sirius purred, and Remus swallowed hard again. “Unless you’d rather stay all buttoned up?”

“Well.” Remus said, still stalling. But then he thought about the fact that he was on the roof of a trampoline park that had been rented out for nine people, drunk on alcohol that cost his weekly grocery budget, with someone whose net worth was probably more than that of Remus’s entire bloodline. Tonight he’d ridden in his first limo, done his first backflip, worn his first toga (over the clothes, but still), and tasted his first champagne. May as well snog his first millionaire.

Managing a surprisingly nonchalant shrug, he started on his remaining shirt buttons.

“Look away if you like.” He was pleased with how even his voice came out, and more pleased by how wide Sirius’s eyes got. The only real lights on the rooftop were the dim underwater lights of the jacuzzi, so Remus felt bold enough to shuck his trousers and pants in one go. A gasp from Sirius bolstered his confidence enough to get into the water, sighing happily as it relaxed his muscles. The night was chilly enough to make the hot water welcome, and the unusual exercise of the trampolines left his muscles in want of some soothing.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Sirius asked again, stretching his legs out to nudge Remus in the calf.

“It’s quite lovely,” Remus agreed, enjoying the way the lights played off of Sirius’s bone structure. He was sure the changing light did him no favors, but Sirius didn’t seem to mind.

“You’re practically glowing.” Remus was about to comment on his happiness when he realized Sirius was being a bit more literal. The other man had a natural healthy tan, but Remus, being Welsh and furthermore too busy to ever see the sun, was exceedingly pale. The lights did indeed make him look almost luminescent.

“Shame I’m not the one named for a star then,” he teased, laying his hands along the edges of the tub so that his fingers brushed against Sirius’s hand.

“Well you’ll just have to settle for being the moon, then, won’t you Lupin?” Sirius hesitantly traced his fingers against Remus’s.

“What a shame,” Remus sighed, slumping in mock sadness to scoot closer to his companion.

“Remus.” Sirius’s voice was almost breathy enough to be a gasp, and Remus couldn’t help smirking a little as he looked up into Sirius’s lust-darkened eyes.

“Sirius?” he asked, leaning closer in a way that would get him punched if Sirius wasn’t obviously as bent as he was.

“You know I didn’t bring you along just to shag you, right?” The question caught Remus by surprise, and Sirius continued, almost babbling. “Not to say it wouldn’t be lovely, but I want to make sure you know that it’s fine if you don’t want to. I really did invite you along just to hang out and if you don’t want anything more you don’t have to feel obligated because I brought you here or am your ride home. I know I didn’t buy you, or anything.” Remus found himself unaccountably touched by the consideration of an ultra-rich yet again. This group was making him rethink his stereotypes just a bit. It just made him want to kiss Sirius all the more.

“Thanks for saying that,” he murmured, leaning in a bit more. “I want you to know, that when I kiss you, it won’t be because you’re rich.”

“Oh yeah?” Sirius whispered back breathlessly. They were barely an inch apart.

“It’ll be because you’re bloody fit,” Remus confessed, and closed the gap. They ended up missing the sunrise, but Remus couldn’t bring himself to care. He had, after all, thoroughly snogged his first millionaire.

* * *

Lily was waiting for him when he got home, smelling like booze and chlorine, a rather prominent hickey on his neck and no socks on.

“What. The. Hell.”

“Coffee?” Remus offered. The limo had swung through a Starbucks drive through on the way to drop everyone off, and when Remus had admitted to never having had any of the seasonal drinks James had ordered one of each. Remus had asked to bring one to Lily, and the rest of the group, wary of how much caffeine James was consuming, had given him three.

“That only raises further questions, you know,” she said, sniffing the cups suspiciously and eventually choosing one. She hummed contentedly but planted a surprisingly firm hand on his chest as he tried to get past her. “You’re not going anywhere til you do some explaining, Mister.”

“Lils, c’mon, I’ve been up all night and desperately need a shower.”

“You do, but I’m not waiting. I wake up to nothing more than a text from 3 a.m. that says ‘going out of town with Black, Potter, and Pettigrew, will text in the morning if not dead’ and then another text at 7:30 that just says ‘not dead, see you soon.’ I think I’m entitled to a bit of explanation.”

“Wouldn’t you rather just let that beautiful imagination of yours go to work?” Remus tried. Honestly he was dying to tell his best friend everything, but couldn’t resist teasing her a little.

“Remus John Lupin I will dump one of those coffees on your head.”

“Not the one you’re holding?”

“I love this coffee and will protect it with my life. The others are ammo.”

“Alright, but can we talk while I shower? I really am a mess.” Lily reluctantly agreed, their tiny flat layout and thin walls making it all too easy to carry on a conversation while one person was in the shower and the other was at the kitchen table. Remus told her the quick outline, already missing the hot tub as the shower dumped lukewarm water on him.

“I can’t believe…literally any of this.” Lily finally said. “What is your life?”

“There’s one more thing,” he admitted.

“You shagged Black in the jacuzzi,” she immediately replied.

“Hey!” he yelped. “Not quite!”

“Please, you came home with a hickey but your clothes aren’t wet, meaning you didn’t wear them in the hot tub you told me you were in alone with Black. It’s not a great deductive leap.”

“Still, we didn’t shag,” Remus said defensively, drying himself off.

“Yet.”

“Honestly that’s up to him.”

“Wait are you serious?” Judging by the sounds, Lily was dancing excitedly in the kitchen.

“Have you seen the bloke? He’s fit, not a complete wanker, and a very good kisser. I’m not exactly fending off a line of potential suitors, so why not have some fun if he’s interested?”

“You think that’s all he wants?”

“I can’t imagine what else. Anyway, I’ll see where it goes.”

“Wow.” Lily was seated again, staring at Remus as he emerged from the bathroom.

“What even is your life.”

“I’m wondering the same thing. I’m also exhausted and might still be drunk. Wanna watch Netflix and write essays we’ll have to redo later?”

“ _You’ll_ have to redo later,” she corrected, pulling up her battered laptop. “Some of us got a decent amount of sleep last night.”

“No regrets,” Remus said smugly.

“Wait til the hangover,” Lily replied sagely. “If you leave me that other coffee, I may even be quiet when it hits.”

The hangover, surprisingly enough, never hit, mostly because a Postmate came to their door around noon with a delivery of a massive selection of the greasiest breakfast foods available in town. Remus grumpily went for a tip but the girl assured him it was all taken care of, courtesy of James Potter.

“I know we joke about getting sugar daddies but Remus.” Lily stood next to him, staring at the spread that didn’t fit entirely on their tiny counter.

“Shut up” he told her halfheartedly.

“Only because there’s food,” she agreed, opening the closest bag.

“Oh, are we sharing?” he teased, as if he would ever not give Lily anything he had to offer.

“We are, and you’re definitely going out with that boy again.”

“Sirius didn’t even send this.”

“Close enough. Wait, is Potter single? Is he looking for his own poor waif?”

“You think rugby players are tools.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fit.”

“Sellout.”

“Sugar baby.”

“Freeloader.”

“That’s just a sugar baby without the kinky bits.”

“There were no kinky bits!”

“You were both naked in a hot tub, there were bits of some kind.”

“You have a filthy mind. You’ll make your own sugar daddy very happy someday.”

“And if I ever need tips I’m apparently living with a pro.”

* * *

Remus tried not to feel weird about the sugar baby jokes – Sirius was actually a year younger than him, it didn’t make sense – and after seeing Sirius around campus a few more times it was easier to believe that the other man wasn't trying to set up any kind of arrangement, but rather it didn't occur to him _not_ to pay for things.

While Remus didn’t exactly have time for any more wild, night-long adventures, he and Sirius managed to meet up often enough throughout the rest of November for Remus to annoy Lily by looking “constantly well-shagged.”

The first of December he came home to find Lily looking mildly stunned in a veritable sea of Christmas decorations.

“What.”

“So I met Sirius,” was her reply. The two hadn’t been introduced yet, thanks to Remus’s policy of only bringing Sirius by when he knew Lily would be out. The walls were SO thin.

“He decorated, did he?”

“He very much did.” Remus flopped down onto the couch and immediately sprang back up when the pillow he had landed on started singing ‘Frosty the Snowman.’

“He’s mad.”

“He seems well-intentioned.”

“At least we’ve got a sweet madman on our hands, then.” He pulled out his phone, dialing Sirius.

“Do you like it?” the other man demanded, instead of offering a greeting.

“Sirius, you’ve redecorated my flat.”

“Lily helped.”

“Lily, he says you helped.”

“I did not!” she yelped.

“She let me in and held the chair so I could hang the garlands.”

“He says you let him in and held the chair while he hung garlands.”

“Okay I helped a little. He took me out to lunch, Remus! You know I’m weak for sushi!”

“I like Evans,” Sirius chimed in helpfully. “She’s quite sharp. I’d love to introduce her to James and watch her tear him apart.”

“You’re a terrible friend,” Remus muttered.

“Am not!” Lily and Sirius protested at the same time. Remus gave up and went to study in his newly holiday-themed room.

* * *

Leaving his last final, Remus saw four missed calls from James and immediately called back, worried.

“Hey, Remus, good! Are you busy?” James sounded stressed but not panicked.

“I just finished my last exam and was going to sleep until I have to go to work tomorrow. Is everything okay?”

“Until work? Remus it’s not even noon! Oh, never mind. D’you think you could swing by Siri’s place?”

“Why?” Remus was quite frankly too tired to be polite. “Is it important?”

“It really kind of is.” James’s tone had Remus’s attention. James was rarely this serious about things that weren’t rugby.

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just… Look, I don’t know what he’s told you but his family isn’t great and he could use a friendly face right about now.”

“Aren’t you his best friend?” Remus felt a little bad trying to pass the buck, but Sirius could be rather dramatic and that took a lot of energy sometimes.

“We all know the boy loves me, but I think you’ll do him more good right now, honestly.”

“Right. I’ll head over, then.”

"You're a gem, Lupin."

"Shove it, Potter."

He would’ve liked to shower before going on what seemed to be a booty call (really, what else could Remus offer Sirius that James couldn’t?), but Remus knew himself too well and was sure that if he went to his apartment he wouldn’t make it back out. Resigned, he made his way to Sirius’s stupidly nice off-campus flat.

“Go AWAY Potter,” was the growled response when he knocked on the door.

“Oh fuck off and let me in, Black, I came all the way here,” he grumped back. The door opened a minute later, revealing Sirius in a state of disarray Remus had never seen before. His hair was a disaster and his eyes looked like he might have been crying.

“Remus.”

“That’s me.”

“You’re here.”

“James called and said something was up. You gonna let me in?” Sirius silently stepped aside, letting Remus come in and shuck off his winter gear.

“Offer me tea,” he prompted, and Sirius padded off to the kitchen without a word. Remus waited until the kettle was on before wrapping himself around the smaller man from behind, nuzzling at his neck. Much to his surprise, Sirius stepped away.

“The tea’s on,” he muttered, seeming to shrink into his baggy sweatshirt. Evidently James had misread the situation, Remus thought. Still, since he was here he may as well offer what comfort he had to give.

“Hey, come back,” he coaxed, tugging gently on Sirius’s sleeve. “Just for a hug.”

“I don’t…” Sirius looked dreadfully uncertain, but let Remus reel him in.

“Honestly I’m exhausted after finals. Why don’t we put on a movie and sit under a blanket with our tea?”

“Okay.” Sirius’s voice was so dreadfully small, Remus felt a spike of anger at James for misreading his best friend’s needs. Potter ought to be here cuddling Sirius, not his fuck buddy. Remus didn’t let that stop him from pulling Sirius onto his lap and draping a blanket over both of them. Halfway through the movie (‘Mary Poppins,’ which Remus privately thought was a hilarious choice of feel-good movie for a uni rugby player who wore leather and rode a motorbike), Sirius suddenly spoke up.

“My family is kind of shit.” When he was quiet for a minute, Remus hummed encouragingly for him to continue. “They raised me with all these expectations, and when I didn’t turn out how they wanted, they kicked me out.” Remus couldn’t help his surprised expression at this revelation.

“I know, spoiled little rich kid has shitty home life, who cares?” Sirius spat out. “I still have it easy, it doesn’t matter that they disowned me, the Potters basically adopted me and one of my uncles put me in his will anyway so I’m still loaded. Why should I care that a bunch of bigoted right-wing idiots don’t want me on their stupid family tree?”

“Sirius, no, that’s not –“ But Sirius was on a roll, pushing himself off the couch to pace in agitation.

“Why should it matter if they send me a stupid Christmas card just to rub it in my face how happy they are? What do I care how content Regulus looks to be an only child? Who gives a FUCK if my goddamn parents don’t want their queer son?” He was yelling by now, and Remus fought down his anxiety about the volume to stand and strip off his jumper and tee shirt. The unexpectedness of it stopped Sirius in his tracks, though he still looked furious.

“What are you trying to-“ Remus interrupted him by grabbing his hand and tracing it along the biggest scar on his torso, the one that went almost from his ribcage to his hipbone.

“I know you’ve wondered what these are from,” he said, forcing himself to keep his voice even, remnding himself that Sirius had ever pushed, that Remus was in control of how much information was shared now. “My dad caught me kissing a boy and threw me out the window.” Sirius stared up at him, eyes wide, hand warm on Remus’s chest.

“Family sucks sometimes," Remus continued. "Parents suck sometimes. I wouldn’t know about siblings, but I’m sure they can be awful too. And it’s fine to get mad. But don’t let them run your life through that anger.”

“Out the window?” Sirius asked in a tiny voice, stepping a little bit closer.

“We were on the ground floor, and I landed in a shrubbery, so the only real damage was from the glass.” It had taken Remus a couple years to get to the point where he could say this so calmly. “Mum had a conniption and made him go stay at his brother’s for a week.”

“Just a week?”

“I was only fifteen; I agreed to try and be normal so our family didn’t have to be broken.” Sirius sputtered indignantly and Remus held up a placating hand. “My mum cried a lot. It was hard to say no to.”

"But the window…”

“I got into a boarding school on scholarship the next year and haven’t been back since. I call my mum every couple weeks, and she tells me my dad sends his love, but it’s hard to believe.” Sirius snorted, then folded himself into Remus’s arms.

“Families suck,” he repeated, pulling Remus closer as the air on his bare torso made him shiver. “Thanks for telling me about your shitty parents so I wouldn’t feel so bad about mine.”

“Hey, any time,” Remus joked, ignoring the tiny voice in his head that was screaming about how he’d never told anyone but Lily about this before. He pulled his shirts back on and settled them both back into the couch.

“Wanna rewind to see what we missed?” Sirius offered. Remus agreed, but was asleep long before the end of the movie. Sirius woke him up enough to drag him to the bed, then again the next morning with enough time for him to go back to his apartment before work. Neither of them mentioned the conversation from the day before.

* * *

“What is this?”

“It’s a package.” The courier looked exceptionally unimpressed with Remus’s question. Or possibly just the fact that he was working in the snow four days before Christmas.

“Right, sorry, of course, where do I sign?” Remus managed to get the box into the flat and signed for without any more stupid questions. Lily joined him in the kitchen to stare at the large, shiny package now taking up their entire kitchen table.

“Your sugar daddy sent you a Christmas gift,” Lily informed him.

“How are you not sick of that joke yet?”

“It’s only been like two months. Give me time. Also, open your present.”

“I didn’t know we were doing gifts.” Remus was suddenly worried that he was supposed to have gotten Sirius something. Since they were both equally cash-strapped, he and Lily typically exchanged chore coupons and homemade cookies. Remus doubted someone as rich as Sirius would be impressed by either of those.

“You could always just put a bow on your dick,” Lily suggested bluntly, ignoring Remus's turmoil. “He’d probably like that.”

“I can’t accept this.”

“First, you get a shoe box…”

“Lily Evans if you quote any more of that video I will steal all of your leggings and tie them into a giant knot.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Remus, like the mature adult he was, stuck his tongue out at her and tentatively began unwrapping the box. He didn’t see a card, but the shiny wrapping paper, courier service, and expensive gift all hinted at one giver. The box contained a top-of-the-line backpack, understatedly elegant and not at all in need of duck tape to hold it together (like Remus’s current backpack).

“Rem, it’s beautiful.” Lily reached out to touch it and Remus suppressed an irrational urge to slap her hand away.

“This must’ve cost hundreds of dollars. I can’t accept it.”

“He already bought it,” Lily reasoned. “And you really do need a new bag.”

“Surely he’s kept the receipt. Or he can sell it.”

“Remus you can’t tell the boy to sell the gift he bought you, that’s so rude. Anyway, I already told him you’d keep it.”

“You did what?” Remus turned his strongest glare on his best friend, feeling a mixture of betrayal and disbelief.

“Look, he wanted to get you a Christmas gift, you need a new backpack, and he bought me a *really* great pair of winter boots for helping out. Everyone wins?”

“He bought you off,” Remus said flatly.

“I mean, yeah, but can you blame me for taking advantage of a situation that dropped into my lap? Remus, we were so stressed about getting new winter gear and this frees up money to do that! Why won’t you just take the gift?”

“Because it feels like there are strings attached!” Remus wanted to pace in agitation but their kitchen was too small. He hated how inadequate Sirius’s money could make him feel. Sirius probably had no idea how many weeks of groceries could be bought for the cost of this backpack.

“Remus.” All of the flippancy and frustration had left Lily’s tone, drawing Remus out of his bitter thoughts. “Try thinking about it another way. If you had a bunch of money and your necessities were already all taken care of, what would you buy?”

“A new laptop so you didn’t have to go to the library for all of your online quizzes,” he replied instantly. He’d been scheming ways to find money for exactly that for months.

“Exactly.” Lily looked far too satisfied, considering Remus was uncertain what she thought she’d just proven.

“I don’t follow.”

“Your first instinct was to get me something to make my life easier, because you care about me. Sirius cares about you, and wants to make your life easier, so he bought you something he knew you needed.” Remus had a sudden thought.

“He didn’t want to get me a backpack, did he?”

“His first suggestion was to spend the whole break in Mallorca, yes,” Lily admitted. “But I promise his heart is in the right place.”

Remus rather doubted Sirius’s heart played much into anything the two of them did, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to keep the backpack. After all, not buying one himself put more money in the laptop fund.

* * *

When Remus had tried to call Sirius to thank him for the gift he’d discovered that Sirius had accompanied the Potters on their winter holiday to the south of France and didn’t have phone service. Other than sporadic snapchats (stunning views and incredible dinners from Sirius, rude snow sculptures and sarcastic comments on screencaps of Sirius’s snaps from Remus), the two didn’t communicate over break.

Remus had wondered if their fling would fizzle out after two weeks apart, but Sirius texted him to come over before even unpacking from his trip. Remus found this out because Sirius wouldn’t stop kissing him from the front door all the way to the bedroom until they tripped over the still-packed suitcase.

“What’s your schedule look like this semester?” Sirius asked once they had finally caught their breath. Remus was idly finger combing his hair, which always made the smaller man snuggle into him. It was a nice, non-sexual form of intimacy, and Remus sometimes wished he could have it outside the now-established script of “brief greeting, sex, bit of cuddling, Remus goes to work/class/study.”

“It’s a little bit lighter,” Remus replied. “I’ve finished my volunteer hours at the day class so I signed up for more hours at the tutoring center, but Lily and I are going to do homework Saturday and Sunday morning, meaning I can work Friday and Saturday night events and have a couple hours free Sunday evenings.”

“Is that honestly lighter?” Sirius was staring at him, wide-eyed.

“It’s three less scheduled hours than last semester,” Remus said absently, focused on a large snarl in Sirius’s hair.

“Remus, how many hours of your week are scheduled?”

“Technically all of them, but if you mean with class and work, 74.” Sirius sat up, and Remus took that as his cue to get moving.

“Wait, no, where are you going?” Remus slowly sat back down on the bed, confused.

“You sat up,” he explained. “So I got up too.”

“I sat up because 74 hours a week is insane!” Sirius exclaimed.

“I told you, I cut back this semester.” Remus felt oddly defensive of his schedule.

“By three hours! What can you do in three hours?” Sensing the need for a diversion, Remus mentally reviewed his schedule for the rest of the day. Nothing terribly pressing awaited (the beginning of the semester was lovely that way), so he pressed Sirius back into the bed, growling “Why don’t I show you?” Sirius was so easy to distract.

* * *

“I might change my major,” Sirius announced, glaring at his textbook. Remus tried not to be bothered by the fact that it, like all of Sirius’s books, had been bought new.

“Aren’t you pretty far along on your track?”

“Yeah, but fuck being a doctor. That’s what my parents wanted.”

“What do you want?” James asked absently, balancing his pen on his nose. The three were supposed to be studying, Sirius and James having descended upon Remus in the library after he’d let slip that Lily would be visiting her family this weekend, leaving him to study alone. She was still texting him encouragement to give in to what he was pretty sure Sirius was after, telling him that if at least one of them didn’t get off in the library then had they really been to university? Remus had silenced his phone, hoping he wasn’t blushing too badly.

“Maybe I could be a police officer,” Sirius mused, pulling up the university’s course page.

“There’s a special school for that,” James told him, wholeheartedly abandoning his work to come look over Sirius’s shoulder.

“I could be a teacher, like Remus.”

“Sirius. You hate kids.”

“Right, don’t want to do that.”

“You could always run away and join the circus,” Remus muttered, still mildly annoyed at how much they were prolonging his study time. He had been hoping to be done with his essay by now.

“Pretty sure you need a family to run away from for that,” Sirius replied flippantly, making James punch him in the arm.

“If mum hears you talking like that she’ll make us do family portraits again, do you really want that?” Sirius pulled a face, but Remus raised an eyebrow at the pair.

“The Potters have been trying to adopt me since I moved in with them after the Blacks kicked me out,” Sirius explained. “Even though I’m not actually a minor anymore.”

“Speaking of minors, and majors, what do you want to study?” James persisted, leaving Remus wondering what his life would’ve been like if he’d been able to go to another, more loving family, instead of just escaping to boarding school. Yet another windfall Sirius had gotten and Remus had missed out on.

“I want to help people,” Sirius said, and Remus realized he was actually earnest about changing his major. “I know doctors do that but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life living under the shadow of the Black name.”

“You could study business,” James suggested.

“Why, so I can take over for your dad while you go play rugby?”

“I’ve always planned to take over the business when I retire from sport,” James said loftily. “You could just run it in the mean time.”

“Honestly the idea of having to do that much maths makes me want to vomit,” Sirius admitted, scrolling through the requirements for a business degree.

“What about law?” Remus offered. “You do like to argue.”

“I think being a barrister is a bit more than just arguing, mate,” James protested, so Remus had to continue.

“It would really give you a chance to help the deserving. There are so many people who can’t afford a good lawyer, and since you don’t really have to worry about making money you could take the cases you want and really make a difference. Not to mention it’d give anyone a turn to be in a courtroom getting stared down by that aristocratic eyebrow thing you do.”

“That could be the name of your firm,” James offered. “Black & Eyebrows.”

“I do look rather good in black,” Sirius mused. “You should still talk to a career adviser,” Remus felt compelled to mention. Sirius didn’t appear to notice, gathering his things into a messy stack.

“I’m gonna go change my major!” he announced, far too loud for the library. James whooped, earning them several glares and shushes, but Sirius remained exuberant. He kissed both of the others on the forehead and dashed off.

“I should go too, to support him,” James said, starting to gather his own things.

“You should finish your essay,” Remus snapped, automatically responding in tutor mode. James grumpily sat back down.

* * *

“Congratulate me, darling, I’m going to be a lawyer!” Sirius announced grandly, sweeping into Remus and Lily’s living room. Lily followed, sporting the generally amused look Sirius always managed to give her. James followed her, looking around in interest, having never been to the flat before.

“Congratulations, why are you here,” Remus said flatly.

“We’ve come to celebrate, obviously,” James said, running his hand through his hair and looking sideways at Lily. Remus realized the two had never met, and James was trying to look cool. He suddenly understood why Sirius was so excited to watch her tear his best friend apart.

“Good job you’ve checked that we don’t have plans,” Remus grumbled, a bit put out that this was the first he was seeing or hearing of Sirius for over a week.

“It’s Sunday evening,” Sirius said, waving a hand dismissively. “You’re free Sunday evening. Now get some shoes, I’m taking everyone for Korean barbecue!”

“Can I go in my pjs or should I put on real clothes?” Lily asked, apparently continuing her streak of working with Sirius against Remus.

“I don’t think they have a dress code.” Sirius, as usual, looked effortlessly stylish. James, on the other hand, was dressed like he’d never heard there were sections of the store besides ‘active wear.’ Remus and Lily silently conferred and decided that jeans and a decent but not fancy shirt were the way to go, and went to change out of their loungewear.

James was on his phone when they reentered the living room, while Sirius had sprawled on the couch like he owned it.

“Can I get a congratulatory kiss for deciding my life plan?” he asked, tangling a hand in the front of Remus’s jumper.

“Absolutely, if you can make it up here,” Remus teased, looming over the couch. He hadn’t counted on Sirius launching himself up to kneel on the couch armrest, so was caught off guard by an enthusiastic kiss.

“If you’re quite finished,” Lily said pointedly a few minutes later. Remus effortlessly lifted Sirius off the couch to stand, enjoying the fact that manhandling him was the only surefire way to make the normally shameless other man blush.

“Pete said he’ll meet us there,” James announced, finally looking up from his phone. “He’s bringing that bird of his, too.”

“Oh, the restaurant allows animals?” Lily asked coolly, leveling James with an even stare.

“I, uh, I mean,” James fumbled. “I meant his girlfriend?” Lily harrumphed and led the way out of the room. Remus and Sirius shared a grin; James was in for an uncomfortable meal.

* * *

Spring semester got busier and busier but Remus still saw Sirius at least twice a week, when they had a morning class in the same hall. Barring the one week of absence, Sirius had brought Remus coffee before class every morning, including one morning that he had woken up late and had had to sneak into Remus’s classroom to drop it off while the professor was lecturing.

Remus still bartended parties, at which Sirius would try to tip outrageously for every drink until the pair ended up spending most of every party (when Remus wasn’t making drinks) battling over the tip jar. Now able to do two parties a week, Remus had felt comfortable enough to cut down his janitorial hours, much to his delight.

He always meant to spend this extra time studying, but somehow Sirius always managed to distract him. Frequently they stayed in or went to the library, but Sirius also delighted in getting James and Lily to come along, as James had become quite smitten with the redhead, who still refused to let him get away with thoughtlessly saying problematic things.

When he found out James was, on top of his full course load and rigorous rugby schedule, auditing two gender studies classes, Remus was forced to reevaluate his assessment of the other man’s infatuation. He mentioned it to Lily and was delighted to see her cheeks pink slightly. She started going easier on James after that – still calling him out, but not quite so harshly – though Remus doubted it was visible to anyone who didn’t know her as well as he did.

As soon as he thought it would be remotely well-accepted by her, James began to send Lily a series of well-intentioned courting gifts, which Remus and Sirius took great delight in watching. He started with flowers, which were greeted by a lecture on environmental friendliness and the wastefulness of gifts that die within a week. He next brought her a puppy on the premise that it would last much longer than a week, and then had to send it to live with his parents as the apartment didn’t allow pets and none of them really had time for a puppy anyway. He got her a gold bracelet, which looked terrible with her skin tone and was prohibited during the majority of her nursing classes. Eventually he gave up and asked her out to dinner, having begged Remus for restaurant recommendations, and despite his utter lack of cool they managed to end the evening as an official couple.

Watching his best friend be happily in love made Remus realize he wanted something similar, and with his lightened schedule might actually be able to pursue it. Sirius’s sweet gestures – the coffee, the company at parties, the way he’d rub Remus’s neck when it got sore from being hunched over his textbooks – were starting to get dangerously addictive, and Remus found himself needing constant reminders that they were just having fun together.

Sirius had a very active social life that didn’t include Remus, and every couple weeks Remus couldn’t avoid overhearing someone somewhere on campus bragging about their time with THE Sirius Black. The first time had made Remus angry, until he realized that he and Sirius hadn’t made any promises. Sure, Sirius could be sweet and never tried to pressure Remus, but in the end they were only nonexclusive friends with benefits, if that. So he contented himself with what he got of Sirius, ignoring any unhelpful emotions the other man was so good at provoking.

Two weeks before finals, a boy in one of his teaching seminars asked him out. He wryly admitted that he’d waited because if Remus said no, they’d almost never have to see each other again, but if he said yes, they still had a bit of time before summer hols. He was handsome in a rugged sort of way that Remus didn’t usually go for, but over the course of the class had proven himself smart, well-spoken, and witty. Ignoring the little voice that said he only wanted to go on dates with Sirius, Remus said yes.

* * *

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lily asked, even as she rifled through his wardrobe for a date outfit.

“It’s not like Sirius asks me before sleeping with other people,” Remus grumbled. He had hoped Lily would be more excited at his potential romance, but when he’d said he needed help picking out an outfit for a date she’d automatically assumed it would be with Sirius.

“Does he really sleep around on you though? He doesn’t seem the type.”

“How is he not the type, Lils? He’s the ARCHEtype rich playboy. I’ve never been anything more than a good time to him, and that’s all he’s been to me.”

“Which is why you’re going on a date with someone who looks as different from him as possible.” Lily remained unconvinced.

“Not AS different as possible. But maybe it’ll be nice to kiss someone closer to my height for once. Now let me change, Benjy’ll be here soon.”

It was Sunday evening, still Remus’s only free evening of the week, which Benjy had graciously worked around. They had agreed to meet at a little pub near campus for dinner, and Remus didn’t want to be late. To that end, he was out the door at quarter to seven, putting him in the hallway just in time to run into Sirius.

“You look nice,” Sirius said, appreciatively eyeing him up and down. “Especially for a Sunday evening.”

“I’ve got a date.” Remus heard himself being abrupt and cursed his inability to stay polite under stress. Why did Sirius have to show up now, looking all pretty and carrying Remus’s favorite Chinese food?

“A date?” The other man looked like he’d never heard the word before.

“Yeah, a bloke in my seminar asked me for dinner and I thought I’d give him a chance,” Remus explained, steeling himself with the memory of being forced to spend an entire bus ride listening to a woman give her friends an uncomfortable level of detail about her night with Sirius. “I didn’t figure you’d be coming round, or I’d’ve told you I’d be out.”

“Out,” Sirius repeated. “Didn’t figure I’d be over.”

“Well it’s not like we have a schedule, you just kind of show up sometimes. Should I text you next time?”

“Next time?” Sirius seemed unaccountably upset by the whole interaction.

“Yeah, I mean, either things will go well with Benjy or I’ll eventually have some other date,” Remus said, wondering how a man who slept with him on a regular basis was having so much trouble believing that other people might want to do the same thing.

“So you’re dating other people,” Sirius said flatly.

“Not like I’ve had as much free time as you have, but I am going on a date with someone, yes.” Remus was starting to get a bit exasperated, and worried that he’d be late.

“What, so if you had more free time, you would be dating more people?” Sirius spat out. “Should I be apologizing for taking up so much of your time?”

“Why are you so upset?” Remus demanded. "How is that fair?"

“Why am I so upset?” Sirius’s voice was getting louder, and Remus worried that they’d draw an audience. “Why am I so upset that you’re going on a date with someone else?” Wanting to cut the conversation short, and fuming over the implication that only Sirius was allowed to be nonexclusive, Remus glared down at the other man.

“You don’t own me, Sirius Black,” he growled, and stalked away, resolutely not turning around at what sounded like two bags of Chinese takeout falling to the ground.

* * *

The date did not go well, and Remus was unsure if it was genuine incompatibility or his lingering anger over Sirius’s possessiveness. He and Benjy ruefully parted without getting dessert, agreeing that they’d given it a chance but it didn’t seem meant to be. Remus was torn between wanting to apologize and wanting to never see Benjy again. He settled for going home and calling it an early night, a feat made easier by the fact that Lily was out, probably staying over with James.

He didn’t hear from Sirius all week, which didn’t surprise him. What did surprise him was how much he missed the other man. He kept catching himself wanting to text Sirius about things that happened in the day, or expecting messages and being surprised to see no notifications on his phone. Still, he refused to be the one to apologize when he hadn't done anything wrong.

On Friday, he expected to see Sirius at the party he was bartending, but he and James were both conspicuously absent. Remus found out why when he got home and found an irate James on his living room couch, Lily asleep on his lap. Carefully placing his sleeping girlfriend onto the couch, James stood and propelled Remus back out the front door with surprising strength. Remus, too surprised to resist, backed up until he hit the wall in the hallway. James was snarling something in a language Remus didn’t know, but it didn’t take a genius to figure that he was cursing.

“Potter what the hell?” he finally demanded, shrugging off James’s hands.

“You seriously have to ask?” James growled. “You cheat on my brother and you have to ASK why I’m mad?”

“I _cheated_?” Remus laughed sourly. “You’ve taken too many hits on the field, Potter. You have to be in a relationship to cheat.”

“A relationship like you and Sirius had?”

“It’s hardly a relationship if one party is sleeping with half the campus.” The punch to the face caught Remus off guard, and he fell back into the wall, hands flying up to protect his now bleeding face.

“Don’t you fucking dare brag to me about sleeping around on Sirius you two-timing, gold-digging piece of garbage,” James hissed. “Be aware that the only thing stopping me from destroying you is the fact that Sirius, for some reason, still loves you. Keep out of my sight, or that protection might not be enough.” With one final shove, Potter marched off, leaving Remus slumped against the wall.

The bloodied lip hurt, but Remus was too preoccupied to give it much thought. How could Potter think REMUS was the one sleeping around? Or that he and Sirius were dating in the first place? Not to mention the casually stated fact that Sirius loved him. What was going on?

Remus was still reeling when Lily stumbled over to the sink, the dim kitchen light apparently having woken her.

“Hey, what’re you- are you bleeding?” Suddenly awake, she pulled the wet cloth from Remus’s lip to look. “What happened?”

“James punched me.”

“He did WHAT.” There was murder in Lily’s voice.

“He said I was sleeping around on Sirius. Who is in a relationship with me. And loves me.”

“Remus what the fuck.”

“Honestly that’s about where I’m at too,” he admitted, leaning heavily on the counter. “Have I been dating Sirius this whole time?"

“Well, let’s think about it. Obviously neither of you has said anything to that effect.”

“Obviously.”

“But has he been acting like a boyfriend this whole time?”

“What does that even mean?” Remus was wholly exasperated by the entire day.

“Did you only ever see each other for sex?” As always, Lily cut right to the core of the matter.

“Well, no, but it’s not like we could have sex every time we see each other. We weren’t about to get naked in the Winter’s Hall corridor.”

“Why Winter’s Hall?” Lily asked.

“We both had class there twice a week, so we would see each other those mornings.”

“What, all semester?”

“Pretty much.”

“So, before and after Sirius changed all his classes and probably dropped whatever he had in Winter’s Hall?” Remus just stared at her. It hadn’t occurred to him that new classes meant new locations.

“He brought me coffee every morning,” he said quietly.

“That’s kind of a boyfriend move,” Lily informed him. “James brings me coffee.”

“Okay, but we didn’t go on dates,” Remus tried.

“Really? You never grabbed food together?” Lily countered.

“I get food with you all the time.”

“No, we eat together because we live in the same apartment. You and Sirius would go out of your ways to eat together, true?”

“Okay, but plenty of friends do that.”

"And you never went places, just the two of you?"

"He took me to the Natural History museum, but he said he had to do a project and wanted my opinions on things..."

"Did you hold hands?"

"So we wouldn't get separated in the crowds."

“Remus, why do you refuse to believe that you have a boyfriend?” Lily had taken up all of Remus’s exasperation.

“Because he was sleeping with half the campus!” Remus burst out.

“Are you sure?” The thing was, Remus really wasn’t sure. Obviously he had heard rumors, but if anyone (besides Sirius) would know the truth, wouldn’t it be James? The same James who was convinced Sirius had been faithful this whole time? Remus knew the rumor mill on campus was a monstrous entity, and he certainly wouldn’t put it past people to outright lie about having slept with one of the most eligible catches around.

“James told me Sirius has been a wreck all week,” Lily told him gently. “Hasn’t gone to class or rugby or really gotten out of bed. The boys thought he had the flu until James finally got him to talk today. And all he knew was that Sirius was sad because you were dating someone else.”

“Why would he love me?” Remus asked. “I’m just some gangly scholarship kid, and he’s… Lily, he could have anyone.”

“But he chose you. Don’t sell yourself short, Remus, you’re incredibly smart, you’re funny, you’re dedicated and hardworking, and I hear you’re a fantastic lay.”

“Excuse me?” Remus spluttered. Lily laughed at his shock.

“Sirius bragged sometimes, when you left the table at study sessions, or when he got here before you got home. Remus, the look on his face when he would talk about you… Well, it’s almost the same as the way you look at him.”

Remus dabbed absently at the cut on his lip, which had mostly stopped bleeding. He’d been so incredibly stupid this whole time. He’d hurt Sirius, rather badly by the sound of things.

“Lily, I need to fix this.”

“I should say so.”

* * *

Remus let himself into Sirius’s flat a little less than an hour later. It was closer to dawn than midnight, but Lily had called James and demanded he come back to the flat immediately. He had entered clearly expecting to have to defend his earlier actions, and been surprised that the first thing Lily had said was a demand for him to give Remus the spare key to Sirius’s. Remus had explained the whole misunderstanding, told James he 100% understood and did not resent the punch in the face, taken the key, and left. Though on his way out he did hear Lily telling her boyfriend she’d like to discuss his instincts of solving problems with his fists.

Surprisingly, given the hour, Sirius was awake. He was nested in blankets on the couch, staring blankly at a movie playing on his laptop. The takeout containers littering the room and the stale smell in the air indicated that Sirius had indeed not moved for several days. He didn’t even look towards the door when Remus came in, presumably assuming it was just James.

“You’ll just let anyone walk into your flat at four a.m., will you?” Remus asked, and Sirius started so violently he fell off the couch.

“Why are you here?” he asked guardedly. His voice was scratchy, like he hadn’t used it for awhile, and his hair was in desperate need of a wash.

“I needed to see you,” Remus answered, dropping to his knees to be on a level with Sirius.

“I think you made it pretty clear that you didn’t, actually,” Sirius shot back, and Remus realized again just how badly he had messed up.

“Will you let me explain?” he asked softly, reaching out. Sirius crossed his arms over his chest, pulling them out of Remus’s reach, but sullenly nodded. Remus took a breath and began.

“I had no idea we were dating. I know it sounds ridiculous, but ever since you first spoke to me I’ve assumed you wouldn’t be interested, because you can do so much better. I’d hear rumors about people having slept with you, and I’d just believe them, because why wouldn’t someone as beautiful and charming as you be able to have a different date every night? It’s not like I was ever around to keep you company.

“And then you kept being so sweet to me, whenever we were together, just little things like getting me a new pen because you saw that mine was running out of ink, or making sure I took study breaks to snack so I wouldn’t just get lost in my work, taking care of me. And it made me want so badly to be more than just a casual bedmate, but I knew I didn’t have much more than that to offer. Our lives are so different, Sirius, I convinced myself I just had to settle for what I could get from you. But watching Lily and James, I wanted SO BADLY to be in love with someone who loved me back, so when Benjy asked me out I said yes… I just didn’t know that I already had what I wanted.” Sirius was staring at him, wide-eyed. He uncrossed his arms, though he didn’t move to take Remus’s hand.

“You thought you were just one of my many casual fuck buddies.”

“Yeah.” Remus admitted.

“I was so afraid I’d scare you off if I was too affectionate,” Sirius confessed. “You never said anything about the Christmas card so I thought you just didn’t like displays of emotion, so I was always careful not to say too much or try too hard but Remus, I swear it’s only been you since the first time we kissed. Yeah, I used to go home with people after parties, but as soon as I knew you were interested, you were it.”

"What do you mean, 'about the Christmas card?'" Remus asked.

"The one I sent with the gift. It said... well, never mind."

"Sirius, I swear, there was no card with that gift."

"There wasn't?" Sirius looked confused. "I taped it on top."

"It must have fallen off," Remus said. "Will you tell me what it said?"

"It's not important."

"I'd really like to know."

"It said I love you, okay?" Sirius burst out. "It was too soon and misguided and stupid and I shouldn't have sent it so it's a good thing you never got it."

“My date was terrible,” Remus said abruptly, realizing how much he still needed to clear up. “He was the first person to have asked me out the whole time I was with you and I said yes even though he’s not as handsome as you and then he turned out to not be as funny or as charming or as sweet and I didn’t even kiss him because this whole time it’s only been you, too, I just didn’t know it.”

“I thought, in the hallway, that was you telling me I was one of any number of casual hookups you had,” Sirius said, sounding choked up.

“I thought it was you getting mad that I was doing what you were already doing. I was such an ass, Sirius, I’m so sorry.”

“You were right though,” Sirius said, voice getting stronger as he sat up suddenly. “I don’t really have a right to be upset. You’re your own person.” Remus winced, remembering his parting words.

“I stand by the wording,” he said, trying to fit his feelings into words. “You don’t own me. But I think I’d very much like to be your person, if you still want to be mine.”

Sirius was doing the wide-eyed stare again, and Remus knew he was in love if this bedraggled, unshowered mess looked cute.

“You want to date me?” Sirius asked.

“Sirius Black, I would love to date the hell out of you. I won’t always have tons of extra time or energy, but what I have, I want to spend with you. Being with you has been the best adventure of my life and I don’t want to stop. I love you, and I will gladly spend the foreseeable future proving this to you.”

“You love me,” Sirius repeated dazedly. His face broke into a wide grin. “You love me!”

“I do love you. Can you give me another chance?” Remus smiled wryly. “I promise I’ll be a better boyfriend when I know that we’re dating.”

“We’re dating,” Sirius said in a happy little voice. “Remus Lupin wants to be my boyfriend.”

“Is that a yes?” Remus prompted. Sirius threw himself forward, engulfing Remus in a crushing hug (and several blankets).

“It’s absolutely a yes,” Sirius whispered into his neck. Remus hugged back, unbelievably glad they’d managed to resolve things.

“Sirius, I love you,” he said after a couple minutes, “but we really need to get you into the shower.”

“I’ll go anywhere if you come too,” Sirius told him earnestly. Remus grinned.

“I like the way you think, Black.”

* * *

“So, naturally, I punched Remus in the face.” James delivered the line perfectly, and everyone in the room laughed. “After getting some sense literally knocked into him, Remus dashed over to Sirius’s flat – which was in a right state after a weeklong sulk, let me tell you – and they’ve been attached at the hip ever since.” There was a smattering of applause, which James waited out before continuing.

“Most people get their siblings from their parents. I got my brother Sirius through the random housing assignment at our boarding school, and today, I’m lucky enough to get my brother Remus as an official new addition to the family. You two have been making each other happy for years, and I know you’ll continue for the rest of your lives.” He raised his champagne flute in a toast. “To Sirius and Remus.”

“Sirius and Remus!” the room cheered back, drinking their own champagne. Sirius bear hugged James, crying openly, and Remus had to wipe his eyes before going in for a hug of his own.

He hadn’t actually cried yet all day, despite his eyes welling up multiple times. First, when he’d woken up to a text from Sirius saying “happy last morning as my fiancé,” then again during the vows. The closest he’d come was actually when they entered the reception hall hand in hand, rings newly fixed on their fingers, introduced as a married couple for the first time. James sat back down, best man duties now complete, and Lily stood and took the microphone.

“Alright, as you all know, I’m Remus’s best man, because I refuse to be called the matron of honor when I’m barely older than the grooms. My husband did a lovely job as the other best man, but we all know tradition allots me a speech too, and I’ll let you all in on a little secret: I’m competitive. So Remus, my love, James didn’t manage it, but get ready to cry because my speech is about to be excellent.”

The audience laughed, but Remus knew she wasn’t kidding. Four minutes later, he was clinging to her, discreetly trying not to sob into her shoulder.

“That’s for making me cry at my wedding,” she whispered, and he gasped out a laugh. “Congratulations, Mr. Lupin-Black.”

“You’re terrible,” he told her. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “Now let me hug your husband.”

“That’s me,” Sirius said, leaning in.

“That is you,” Remus agreed. “My husband.”

**Author's Note:**

> And that's a wrap! One line I really wanted to fit in but couldn't manage was when Remus and Lily are processing through the fact that Sirius had feelings this whole time, Remus was going to say something about how rich Sirius was and Lily was going to say "that's why his wallet's so big. it's full of feelings." because I will quote Mean Girls til my dying day. I may have more thoughts on this but it's midnight and they're not appearing, so that's all for now. Thanks for reading!


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